thevideogamedatabasefandomcom-20200214-history
Segata Sanshiro
Segata Sanshiro (せがた三四郎 Segata Sanshirō) was the Japanese mascot for the Saturn, a console produced by Sega notorious for being the first Sega console to internationally fail financially. Although the mascot only was active between 1997 and 1998, he is stated as being a contributing to the system's success in its country of origin. In his commercials and subsequent appearances in video games, he appears as a martial arts master who punishes those who do not play the Sega Saturn. He was originally portrayed by Hiroshi Fujioka of Kamen Rider fame, and is voiced by Hiroshi Fujioka in Project X Zone 2. Biography Segata Sanshiro was a serious and powerful man with a firm sense of duty, who has mastered the way of play and believes that playing video games is one of the most treasured activities in life. He lived a hermetic life up high on a mountain where he devoted his life to intensive training involving the Sega Saturn, albeit in unconventional ways: This involved carrying a giant Sega Saturn on his back as well as punching buttons on its giant controller. He also mentally broke stacks of blocks using his head. His training resulted in superhuman abilities, such as being able to make people explode twice by throwing them. To the feckless youth of today, bored by their ephemeral existence, he strives to communicate the value of devoting oneself tirelessly to a task, using himself as the ultimate example. He also frequently visits the city to seek out people who are not playing the Sega Saturn, and harshly teaches them a lesson. "Segata" is his surname, but everyone always says it first. Blessed with superhuman reflexes, he is an expert in many martial arts, his many honors including a 1st degree black belt in karate and iaidou, a 3rd degree black belt in judo, a 4th degree black belt in battoudo, and a 7th degree black belt in toudou. He can also break ten tiles with his head, return a baseball from a pitching machine with a kick, and fillet a fish like an expert. The quintessential man among men, he has a supernatural power called "Dragon Force" that allows him to make identical copies of himself. You must play the Sega Saturn! When the Saturn was phased out, Segata appeared in one final commercial in which he heroically sacrificed himself to save Sega Headquarters in Tokyo when Sega's Console Wars competitors, Nintendo and Sony, launch a missile. Segata chooses to jump off the roof of the building and land on the missile itself, deflecting it into the atmosphere but being trapped on it in the process. Riding the missile into the sky, he spent his last few moments of life chanting "Sega Saturn Shiro!!" one final time before the missile exploded, seemingly killing him in the process. Shinji Nakae, the narrator of the, Hey! Spring of Trivia followed this with the narration stating that "Segata Sanshiro will live on in your hearts," followed by a display of the game Segata Sanshirō Shinken Yūgi, a Sega Saturn game in which Sanshiro plays a major role. However, many believe that he survived the explosion and lived on. At the end of the commercial, what can either be a shooting star or Segata himself reentering the Earth's atmosphere streaks by. Appearances *Sega Saturn commercials *''Segata Sanshirō Shinken Yūgi'' *Dreamcast launch *''Virtua Fighter 4'' (referenced only) *''Rent A Hero No. 1'' *''Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed'' *''Sonic the Hedgehog'' Issue 269 (Archie Comics) *''Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2'' *''Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory'' *''Megadimension Neptunia VII'' (referenced only) *''Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution'' (referenced only) *''Project X Zone 2'' Behind the scenes *He is a parody of Sugata Sanshirō, a legendary judo fighter from Akira Kurosawa's Sanshiro Sugata. *His second catchphrase was intended as both a play on his original catchphrase as well as referencing the, at the time, new white color version of the Japanese Sega Saturn which followed the original gray version. *A CD music single was released of the Segata theme song by Warner Music Group, which sold more than 100,000 copies. *Sanshiro is referenced in the Japanese version of Virtua Fighter 4, in which one of the AI profiles for Akira Yuki is named Segata. This same profile name appears in the US version of Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution. *Sanshiro is seen in Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, riding the rocket from the commercial and carrying a giant Sega Saturn on his back. This, however, only occurs if the player is in the lead at the final lap of Race of Ages. *A character named Shiro appears in Planeptune in Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 and Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, which is a reference to Segata Sanshiro. In Megadimension Neptunia VII, an ancient artifact called "Sanshiro's Soulful Patch" is also a reference to Segata Sanshiro. In the same game, Noire notes that Sanshiro is one of Planeptune's great men, referencing Segata's importance to Sega's legacy. *Segata Sanshiro also has an appearance in Rent A Hero No. 1, a Japanese game released on both the Dreamcast and Xbox. He serves as a martial arts instructor who can teach new moves to the main character. *Segata's appearance as a Solo Unit in Project X Zone 2 marks his very first playable video game appearance to make it outside of Japan. **Many of his dialog and actions in his initial appearance in the game, during Chapter 20: "You Must Play the Sega Saturn!", reference his various commercials or even cameo appearances in some way. He shows familiarity with several Sega characters in the player's roster, including Akira Yuri, dances with Sakura under blossoming cherry trees from his Sakura Wars 2 commercial, shows a liking towards steampunk, transforms into multiple copies of himself, and throws opponents as the last move of his special attack. Category:Sega Saturn Games Category:Project X series Category:Sonic The Hedgehog Series Category:Virtua Fighter Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Playable Characters Category:Dead Characters Category:Mascots